1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: But I think the mistake that some people make, and 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: it's not just young kids coming in and learning it's 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: something to do, is that you feel you're on a 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: mission to explain. And if you feel you're on a 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: mission to explain, you're going to feel before you start. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 2: Over and over again. By now just how important soft 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 2: skills are for the modern knowledge worker, you've also probably 8 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: thought to yourself, why are they called soft skills when 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 2: they're actually really hard to do well? As our work 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 2: becomes more personalized, nuanced, and complex, we all need to 11 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 2: build a set of peripheral skills abilities that supplement the 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 2: core of our job descriptions. And one of the most 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 2: important of those skills is the ability to communicate effectively. 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 2: Whether you're in technology, finance, education, or anything in between, 15 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 2: communication ties it all together. It doesn't matter how good 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: you are frenching the numbers or designing a workflow if 17 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 2: you can't effectively share it with other people. So how 18 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 2: can you improve your communication skills? My name is doctor 19 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 2: Amantha Imber. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of 20 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 2: behavioral science consultancy invent Him, and this is how I 21 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 2: work A show about how to help you do your 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 2: best work. Welcome to your Favorite Tips across ten byte 23 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 2: size episodes, I'll be sharing tips from some of the 24 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 2: world's best thinkers that you, the listeners, have found the 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 2: most useful. We're covering everything from creating better to do 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 2: lists to setting more effective boundaries around your time, and 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 2: you'll be hearing from people like best selling author Sally Hepworth, 28 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 2: Corona Cast host and journalist Norman Swan, and Google's executive 29 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 2: productivity advisor Laura may Martin. Today's favorite tip comes from 30 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 2: d and she writes one I keep going back to 31 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 2: is Norman's One's tips on how to communicate better by 32 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 2: taking people on a narrative journey, not trying to explain 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 2: everything to them upfront. So here is ABC journalist and 34 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 2: broadcaster Norman's One talking about how he became so effective 35 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 2: at communicating complex health information in simple terms. 36 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: So one of the joys of doing what I do 37 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: do is it's exactly what you say, I mean. I 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: really love it. That's what I love storytelling, and so 39 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: that's what journalism is is discipline storytelling. And when you're 40 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: telling a story, you've got to work out what the 41 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: narrative is, how to engage people in that narrative, how 42 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: to stop their minds drifting to something else so that 43 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: they're always there. And I liken it to grabbing somebody 44 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: by the neck, sitting them down, nothing else to think 45 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: about knowing, and what's the air and flow of the 46 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: energy of a communication piece as well as the content 47 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: of that. So when I first joined the ABC, that's 48 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: what you know. I already had that love of storytelling, 49 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: and then you had to apply to communicating complex information 50 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: more complex information. And I had a colleague then who 51 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: unfortunately got very young with Peter Hunt, who we worked 52 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: closely together. He was an environmental journalist. I was health 53 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: and was more health side, and we used to work 54 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: together and do that tesk together. He had something that 55 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: he wanted to communicate it till he wanted to communicate, 56 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: and we workshop how we did it, and we'd read 57 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: each other's scripts and give people and give each other feedback. 58 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: And we did that for some years. And I think 59 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: that once you've been doing that sort of thing for 60 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: some years, you kind of get what works and what 61 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: doesn't work. And now one of the pleasures I get 62 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: is actually working with young incoming broadcasters and working on 63 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: their scripts and showing them ways of changing the story, 64 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: how you might create a metaphor an image, something to 65 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: grab onto and get that rhythm right and pass that on. 66 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: But it's just years and years of doing it, practicing 67 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: and getting feedback, and years and years of failure as 68 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: well and learning from your failures. 69 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 2: So when you are editing, say a less experienced person 70 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 2: script for example, what are some of the things that 71 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 2: you're looking for or some of the pieces of advice 72 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 2: that you find yourself giving often well. 73 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: I think the mistake that some people make, and it's 74 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: not just young kids coming in and learning, it's people. 75 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: Something to doing well is that you feel you're on 76 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: a mission to explain. And if you feel you're on 77 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: a mission to explain, you're going to fail before you start. 78 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: That's why I'm talking about storytelling now. Storytelling episodic. It 79 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: has a beginning, the middle, and an end, but it 80 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: also has episodes within it. And you don't tell the 81 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: whole story up front. You've got to give people a 82 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: reason to move on. So the common things that I 83 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: find people do is they give away the story at 84 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: the beginning. All you've got to do at the beginning 85 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: is give people a reason to listen because it's going 86 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: to be a payoff, and make sure they do get 87 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: a payoff. It's explaining too much at one time rather 88 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: than parsing out the information so that I'm going to 89 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: give you a little bit. You give a little bit, No, 90 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: consolidate that little bit of information. Then I'll take you 91 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: to the next place. And I'm taking you by the 92 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: hand through the story. And you've got to trust me 93 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: that I will take you by the hand and I 94 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: will not lose you during the story. 95 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 2: I think it's always good to be reminded of the 96 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 2: power of storytelling because it's so easy to just default 97 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 2: to facts and figures, especially at work. So maybe this way, 98 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 2: if you're preparing a presentation or perhaps for a meeting 99 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 2: where you have to communicate something important, challenge yourself to 100 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 2: find a story that brings your message to life in 101 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 2: an engaging and compelling way. As the listener of How 102 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 2: I Work, you've hopefully picked up a few tips on 103 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 2: this show to help you work better, But do you 104 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 2: want more? And maybe in a book form, because let's 105 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 2: face it, books are the most awesome thing on the planet. Well, 106 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 2: now you can. In my new book, time Wise, I 107 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 2: uncover a wealth of proven strategies that anyone can use 108 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 2: to improve their productivity, work, and lifestyle. Time Wise brings 109 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 2: together all of the gems that I've learned from conversations 110 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 2: with the world's greatest thinkers, including Adam Grant, Dan Pink, 111 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 2: Mia Friedman, and Turia Pitt and many many others. Time 112 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 2: Wise is launching on July five, but you can pre 113 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 2: order it now from Amantha dot com. And if you 114 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 2: pre order time Wise, I have a couple of bonuses 115 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 2: for you. First, You'll receive an ebook that details my 116 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 2: top twenty faith rite apps and software for being time 117 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 2: Wise with email, calendar, passwords, reading, cooking ideas and more. 118 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 2: You will also get a complimentary spot in a webinar 119 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 2: that I'm running on June twenty nine, where I will 120 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 2: be sharing the tactics from time Wise that I use 121 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 2: most often, and also some bonus ones that are not 122 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 2: in the book that I use and love. Hop onto 123 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 2: Amantha dot com to pre order now. How I Work 124 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 2: is produced by Inventing with production support from Dead Set Studios, 125 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 2: and thank you to Matt Nimba who does the audio 126 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 2: mix for every episode and makes everything sound so much 127 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 2: better than it would have otherwise, see you next time.